


A Change in the Weather

by coeurvolant



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, Multi, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 10:37:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4873573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coeurvolant/pseuds/coeurvolant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drop in the ocean, a change in the weather.</p><p>(Story based on personal gameplay, primarily Takumi x Oboro from the perspectives of others.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Drop in the Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my I don't know when was the last time I wrote fanfic but I did this on impulse and warning: it's very lengthy with embarrassingly long dialogue and not-so-well-written. I wish I were more articulately eloquent, but English isn't my first language and it is what it is, haha ~  
> There'll be many pairings and characters popping up along the way, this story revolves around my Hard // IK FE:if run, might mix in some things from my other playthroughs as well -plot will be similar to the one in game, but I'll be making changes every here and there. F!Kamui's name is Aoi, she is 19 years old. FE uses a younger audience for their characters so I'm going with what feels canonically correct (more like "canonically-close-enough). 
> 
> But yeah, consider yourselves...warned ?  
> Story starts after chapter 10 before 11 in IK route.

How long had it been since they last stopped to rest? It must have been at least a week...Aoi couldn't remember the last time she was able to properly sit down and eat. Yet now, as she stared deeply into the kindling flame in front of her, all she could think about was how restless she felt and how much she needed to be marching.

Aoi wasn't sure how much time she'd passed sitting on the log, losing herself in the fiery scene in front of her. She felt her eyelids start to droop down before a timid, gentle hand was placed on her shoulder, jolting her wide awake in surprise. She turned around, quickly standing up as her younger sister waved shyly at her with a half smile.

"I'm sorry, how long have you been standing there, Sakura?" She asked, brushing herself off. The sky was still dark, most of the troops either asleep or rummaging through their possessions. Only a few lone soldiers stood guard, wandering around the camp base, just barely out of reach from the warmth of the fire.

Sakura swayed from side to side nervously, hugging herself from the cold wind drafts, "Not too long, sister." She said, a little too hurriedly. Aoi was almost certain she had been standing in contemplation over whether to wake her for a few minutes at least, her red nose was indication enough.

Aoi sighed, holding the younger girl by the shoulders and redirecting her back towards the tents, "You should be resting, Sakura." She gently chided her, "You'll need all your strength for tomorrow." She racked her head for something else to say as she saw the girl's face drop. Sakura was young, but mature. She wouldn't easily go to sleep knowing that others were still awake, tending to wounds and keeping track of inventory. "We never know when we'll come across the enemy." Aoi continued, scanning the campgrounds, "And we'll really need you then. You and Joker are the only ones who can heal us..." She trailed off, grinning, "And you know how Joker is." Sakura giggled as well, nodding as she covered her mouth, "He wouldn't heal injured soldiers unless they _begged_ for it." She whispered, guiltily looking around for the loyal butler.

"I understand, sister." Sakura finally said, slightly more cheerful. Aoi sighed in relief, nodding to the girl as she skipped over to the tent that she was sharing with Kazahana and Aqua. Aoi was supposed to be in there as well; but with all the commotion going on outside and with herself as the culprit of it all, she couldn't possibly sleep. She made for the fire once again, wondering whether they could be able to convince the others -her siblings -of Aqua's truth; sure, the songstress had shown her the reality, the horrors of what was occurring inside of the Nohr Kingdom. But she knew for a fact how absolutely stubborn her siblings were and how they'd rather be at each other's throats than to work together.

This was the only option she had, though. And she'd have to stick with it. She couldn't imagine having to fight one side or the other. Her mind wandered off again as she sat on the ground, counting the days that had passed since they'd started their journey on her finger tips. Nine days, definitely over a week.  
They had been traveling from Izumo and towards Fuuma, in search for Ryouma. Suzukaze, the ninja who had taken upon himself to serve Aoi, had informed them that his elder twin brother, Saizou, along with another of Ryouma's retainers, had been spotted there. However, given the hostile situtation that had been placed between Aoi and her siblings and the surrounding dangers in potential enemy territory, Suzukaze had also mentioned it would be better to take the mountain route: one that was longer, but much safer.

The idea had proven to be true, however; they hadn't been attacked even once since they'd started traveling on the mountain, and Suzukaze had assured Aoi that they would be able to make the first move after reaching their destination. The latter was more important to Aoi, because she knew for a fact that Ryouma, despite being her older brother, would attack her with little to no hesitation.

Aoi's ears suddenly prickled as she heard the distinct sound of a weapon being sharpened -another perk of being dragon-blooded, her abilities gave her enhanced senses, making her both a reliable and worthy commander of their troops despite her young age. She jumped up, looking into the darkness for the source of the sound. It was possible that it was one of her own soldiers preparing their weapons, but she would not take the chance.  
She walked cautiously over to a corner of camp, secluded entirely by darkness. She let out an audible sigh of relief as she saw who it was, although it was loud enough to startle the person she had walked upon.

"Who's there?!" A girlish voice called out demandingy, as Aoi swiftly found the tip of a naginata pressed up against her chest. She expected none the less from the skilled lancer.

"Oboro." She greeted, holding up a friendly hand. "Why are you still up?" She asked, moving closer once the weapon was lowered. Oboro merely grunted, sighing as she sat back down and continued sharpening her weapon. Aoi took her silence as an invitation and sat across from her, face in her hands as she watched her with the intensity of a dragon.

"It's a bit unnerving, Aoi-sama." The girl finally said, frowning as she stopped her methodical movements.

"W-what is?" Aoi asked, straightening herself up.

"You watching." Oboro's face twitched. Aoi hummed as she looked away, towards where the moon was. She couldn't figure Oboro out. Ever since Takumi joined her troops with her and Hinata, his two retainers, Aoi had tried to be on friendly terms with them. She had personally made it her goal to familiarize herself with each and every one of her soldiers. As their leading commander, she needed everyone who joined to trust her. So far, she had been successful...until those three came along.

Hinata was extremely friendly and she found herself easily getting along with him. However, she knew for a fact that Takumi disliked her with an intensity close to hatred, and Oboro would follow her lord's footsteps until the end of the world. Takumi had done well ignoring her for the first few days, only muttering occasional words to signify what he was doing or what he needed. She supposed he was starting to at least tolerate her presence, which to be honest, was good enough at this point. Aoi also knew that Sakura tried her hardest to get her two siblings to get along, which had helped to some extent.

But Oboro was different; she had mentioned that Takumi said a lot of bad things about Aoi, but she had been friendly enough...despite the fact that Aoi would see her making the most demonic face at her back sometimes when she thought she wasn't looking. Aoi wasn't completely sure if it was on purpose though, the lancer always seemed to space out when she did it. Suddenly struck by a thought, Aoi looked back towards her companion to speak again, when she felt all words fall back down her throat as she saw that Oboro was making that horrifying face at her again.

She swallowed heavily, waving her hands in front of the lancer's face. Oboro jumped backwards, letting out a small cry of shock as she she seemed to have been pulled out of a trance, "Be more careful Aoi-sama!" She whispered ferciously, "I could have accidentally attacked you!" She exclaimed, gesturing to the sharp naginata in her lap.

"Oboro, you were making that face again." Aoi said, choosing to ignore her words.

"A-ah, was I?" Oboro placed her weapon down, nervously wringing her fingers, "Aoi-sama." She said suddenly, her expression completely serious. Aoi sat straighter, suddenly alert. "I think..." She trailed off, looking into the distance worriedly, "I think Takumi-sama's mad at me."

Aoi let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and almost slumped to the ground in disappointment. She thought Oboro was going to tell her a secret or something about her past at first. It would have helped them bond a little faster, at least. "I'm sure that's not the case." The princess said instead, trying to hide her amusement. Of course Oboro would get worried over something that trivial.

"N-no, it's not funny! It's a very serious matter!" She exclaimed, shushing the dark haired girl. "He's really mad at me. Just think about it." Aoi opened her mouth to speak again, but was quickly quieted by Oboro again as she repeated her words.

A bit reluctantly, Aoi attempted to recall her earlier memories of that day -particularly the ones with Takumi in it. He had seemed to be in his usual uncaring mood, barely acknowledging her and occasionally helping Sakura up as the younger princess tripped over the loose rock every now and then. Hinata and Oboro were flanked on either of his sides as usual...Kazahana stood about an inch behind Sakura, as close as humanly possible, and Tsubaki and Aqua were further ahead, performing recon on Tsubaki's pegasus.

"Oboro, I really don't think he's mad at you." Aoi finally said, not remembering anything of note that occurred between the two. "What makes you think so, anyways? Let's hear it out."

The lancer fidgeted some more, peeking behind Aoi as though Takumi would tear out of his tent at any moment. "Well..." She paused, taking another glance. "He yelled at me today. He seemed really mad." That caught Aoi's attention.

From what the older girl knew, Takumi was most definitely the passive-aggressive type. He was more likely to mutter dark incantations from behind a tree while following an enemy than to scream that he was going to kill them. The latter was actually...a bit more like Oboro herself. Secondly, Takumi had always been especially nice to Oboro. He was the same way with Sakura; it would be unusual for him to yell at either of them. He yelled at Aoi quite often enough though. She had begged him for archery lessons the other day -a tip from Aqua on how to get closer to him -and he had mercilessly yelled insults at her the entire time. He honestly seemed like an older brother to Aoi at times like those. But mostly, he was a pouty, mopey prince.

"What did you do?" Aoi asked, doing her best not to sound lke she was accusing her of anything.

Oboro thought for a moment, "Nothing in particular." She said, eyebrows furrowing in concentration, "I was guarding Takumi-sama as usual...I sparred with-," She suddenly stopped standing up and letting her naginata fall with a clatter as Aoi ducked for cover, "I was sparring with Hinata earlier!" She exclaimed, eyes widening as though she was seeing the world clearly for the first time, "I got distracted for a moment because I couldn't see Takumi-sama and Hinata landed a hit on me." She pointed to her upper arm, which Aoi noticed for the first time was bandaged. It wasn't too noticeable, but it covered the part directly between her sleeve and arm guards.

"Takumi noticed that?" Aoi muttered to herself, thinking deeply. Perhaps her younger brother wasn't as uncaring as she had originally thought.

"Yes, he must have realized that I lost." Oboro continued, picking up her weapon, "He must have been so disappointed in me. I'm going to go train now!" She said happily, before running off.

"Wait, Oboro-!" Aoi called after her, but she was too far gone by then. "What an oblivious girl," She sighed, making her way towards her tent. She somehow felt more tired than she had in ages. She hoped they would reach Fuuma soon -her sister and brother were bound to be there somewhere, and she needed to find them as soon as possible.

 

***

 

"Aaah..." Aoi looked at Sakura worriedly. The girl had been quietly sighing for the past few minutes, but she never said a word otherwise and walked resolutely forward.

"Sakura, are you alright? Do you need a break?" She asked, stopping her. Tsubaki came flying down on his pegasus once he noticed the hold up, Aqua jumping off from behind him and running to the younger princess.

"N-no, I'm alright." Sakura quickly said, "Just catching my breath."

"Princess, please do not exert yourself." Tsubaki, her older retainer said smoothly, nonchalantly elbowing Kazahana aside. "If you find yourself uncomfortable from having someone constantly breathing down your neck -," He paused to shoot a sneaky grin at the brunette samurai, "There is always extra space on my pegasus." He patted the saddle, dodging a kick from Kazahana.

"No need," The younger retainer immediately said, puffing out her chest, "Sakura-sama, if you ever find yourself tired, feel free to jump on my shoulders. I'll easily carry you halfway across the world and back," Aoi stifled her laughter. Kazahana was barely taller than Sakura, and she already looked weary enough to fall right over.

"Oh, but Sakura-sama, my pegasus and I could gently fly you all the way around the world and back," Tsubaki continued soothingly without missing a beat.

"I'd like to see how you stay on your pegasus without both of your hands!" Kazahana finally fully turned towards Tsubaki, gripping the hilt of her sword threatingly. Tsubaki subtley smirked -she had fallen for his bait, once again.

"Oh my, what a violent girl." He said dramatically, "Surely Sakura-sama wouldn't want to associate with a brat of such cruel disposition."

"Who's the brat?!" Kazahana said between gritted teeth, "I'll chop off all your hair, pretty-boy!' She screeched, pulling her sword out as soldiers all around clamored to get away, "Let's see how you look bald, old man!"

Tsubaki's face paled for the first time, "O-old man?!" He exclaimed, holding an arm protectively over his hair. "W-well, look at this -,"

"PLEASE STOP!" Sakura yelled, hands in fists. "Y-you guys are embarrassing me..." She said softly, blushing. Aoi's face turned so red she was about to burst -she didn't know how much longer she could hold in her laughter. Even the usually stoic Aqua and Takumi had to turn away, their shoulders trembling.

Tsubaki glared one last time at Kazahana before speaking up again, "Oh, that's right. I came down to say that I saw a smoke signal come up." He said, pointing towards the air. "It looks as though it's Hoshidan make, the one us royal retainers carry for our lords."

"That must be Ryouma!" Aoi exclaimed, "How far are we?"

"That's the problem." Tsubaki continued, "It's a return signal -signifying for surrounding forces to retreat. The person who fired it off intends to die holding off enemy forces while their allies escape. That means we'll have to take the quickest path down, otherwise risk their deaths..." His face grew serious. "We'll have to go by my pegasus -but I can only carry a few units. I think anymore than a few runs back and forth will make her too exhausted for battle." He patted his pegaus gently, "So please make up your mind, Aoi-sama -choose ten people to bring to battle; I'll go with you onto the field on the last run. Everyone else must stay here, it is far too dangerous to go down immediately using any other method."

Aoi nodded, scanning her troops quickly. "Kazahana, Joker, get your supplies ready." She said, gesturing to the two soldiers. "Sakura, you too. I know you're exhausted, but Kazahana will stay by your side." Both girls lit up immensely and the younger princess waved her healing staff determinedly. "Joker, make sure you have your appropriate equipment, we'll need to be healing any allies we find." She added, looking around for a certain green haired ninja. "Suzukaze, there's a possibility Saizou may be down there as well. We'll need your help again," The last time they had met Saizou, the older twin had tried to dispose of himself after failing to defeat them; she couldn't risk any uneccessary casualities. Suzukaze nodded in understanding, shooting her a knowing look gratefully.

Aoi nodded curtly before refocusing on the task at hand -that was already seven people, including herself and Tsubaki. She could take five more..."Aqua, we'll need your help too." Aoi squeezed the songstress' hand as she walked past, quickly whispering, "Don't overexert yourself though." She didn't want to think about what would happen to her if she were to get even more sick -no one other than herself knew of Aqua's ailing condition. The woman merely smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Tsubaki, I'll go down with Joker first." She said, gesturing to the white haired butler, "We can hold off the enemy for a while, just the two of us." The red haired pegasus rider nodded, making room for the two of them. Aoi watched them carefully -the pegasus seemed a bit unsteady from the sudden weight at first, but her flight gradually evened out as she saw them descend towards the ground. She was glad Aqua made the initiative to go down first -she trusted her to be able to direct the soldiers who went down first and wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Kazahana, you'll go with Sakura next." Four more people. Aoi racked her brain as she looked at the weary faces around her. On one hand she knew that no soldier would want to be left behind, but on the other, she couldn't bring herself to single out the ones who shifted nervously and casted their eyes towards the ground. "Takumi, go with Hinata and Oboro." She said, gesturing to her younger brother.

"I object."

Aoi nearly facepalmed as soon as the stubborn prince spoke. "Please Takumi -I know we have our differences, but what if Ryouma's the one down there?" She exclaimed impatiently, tugging at the curled ends of her short hair in frustration. They had been fine for a week. Of course he'd pick the one time she needed him the most to start an arguement.

Takumi rolled his eyes. "I know that, dimwit." He said exasperatedly, "Hinata and I will go down. Oboro will stay up here with everyone else." The lancer's heart seemed to break as soon as he said those words, looking up at her lord pitifully. Aoi narrowed her eyes, remembering their conversation from last night. Was he actually angry at her?"

"Takumi, Oboro's one of our strongest soldiers. We'll need her on the front lines with everyone else. Why do you say otherwise?" Aoi's eyes followed Tsubaki as he came towards them, herding Sakura and Kazahana towards him. "Suzukaze, go with HInata next." The green haired ninja obediently lined up with the samurai after Tsubaki took off again.

"Oboro's already injured." Takumi continued, gesturing to his subordinate's arm, "She should rest up and sit this one out." Aoi felt her heart swell with pride at his words -her brother really was a caring person! Though they hadn't known each other for long, she still thought of him as her dear, frustrating, younger brother. It made her a bit happy to see what a good person he was, even if he usually kept it buried down behind heaps of competitive anger.

Aoi walked over to Oboro, exaimining the younger girl's arm. She leaned in close, under the pretense of checking her wound, "Do you think you can fight?" She asked quietly. She was no medic but she trusted the girl to be able to make her own opinions.

"I won't let my prince go down there without me." Oboro said firmly.

Aoi nodded, turning back towards Takumi, "Her wound's not that bad. She'll go down with you after Suzukaze and Hinata." Takumi shot her a dirty look before muttering and moving to stand in line. "Tsubaki and I will round up the group." Aoi stated, she knew it was less than she could bring, but they'd have to manage. Tsubaki's pegasus was starting to look tired, especially after their continuous reconnaissance, and the rest of the soldiers looked as though they didn't have the energy to fight either.

"Everyone else, keeping moving forward together. Make sure no one lags behind, and go at a slow pace. We'll meet you at the foot of the mountains at first daybreak." Aoi directed, silencing the voices of protest, "We'll all be fine. Make sure to have a good rest." She knew for a fact that it wouldn't take more than a few hours to reach the bottom of the mountains, and that the entire passageway was safe. She also figured that with the given time frame, they could rescue Ryouma and rest after their battle as well. She had packed more than enough staffs for both Joker and Sakura, so they'd have plenty of time to tend to the injured's wounds afterwards.

"Aoi-sama." The draconic princess turned around as she felt Tsubaki land beside her, "This is less soldiers than I had originally said."

"I know that." Aoi began, a gloved hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched the backs of her troops disappear over the corner, "This is good enough," She said confidently, "We'll be able to hold out." The man nodded, holding his hand out to Takumi as he boarded the flying horse. The prince shot Aoi one more pointed look before helping Oboro up behind him. The lancer hugged him happily, nodding appreciatingly to Aoi as the trio flew away.

Aoi paced up and down the edge of the mountain as she fretted over how everyone else was doing. She wished she could have first, but as the commander, it was up to her to see that everyone left safely. She worried the most over Sakura and Oboro -her younger sister was looking incredibly tired, but they needed her healing powers. Oboro, on the other hand, she hadn't been able to properly checked her wound; there was no way to tell how bad it was merely by looking at it through a bandage anyway...but surely if it was an injury during a spar, it couldn't have been that bad.

"Aoi-sama." Tsubaki hopped down on his pegasus. "Inventory?" He gestured to the piles of bags around her. Aoi nodded sheepishly. "I'll help you with those."

"Much appreciated." The princess mindlessly began to pack the bags onto the pegasus, eyes planted to the sky, darkened by smoke. She was itching to go help the others, if only she could just grab her dragonstone now and soar through the skies to help them -

The bag that Aoi had been holding fell to the ground. Tsubaki stopped midtask and gazed at her in confusion, "Is there something wrong?" He asked, directing his attention towards where she was looking. The sky was a bit hazy, but nothing abnormal. The way her face was, Tsubaki would had expected to see a pack of starving rabid wyverns tearing towards them.

"Tsubaki." Aoi turned towards the man, pointing to herself. "I can turn into a dragon, can't I." The pegasus rider nodded slowly, "I can fly, can't I." Another nod. "I could have helped transport everyone!" She exclaimed, holding up her dragonstone and shaking it for extra effect.

Tsubaki chuckled, "Ah, leave it to our scatterbrained princess to forget that." He tapped his head, hopping back onto his pegasus, "Of course I knew that. I just didn't want to overexert you," With a grin, he was off with a fully loaded pegasus, leaving Aoi standing there with her dragonstone still in the air. She stomped on the ground childishly before transforming and following him downwards.

 

***

 

"Sakura-sama, watch out!" The young princess ducked as Kazahana took out a stray soldier from behind her with a swift cut from her katana.

"T-thanks!" Sakura said, quickly lifting her staff to heal her retainer. She bit her lip. Everyone was now scattered across the battlefield; she and Kazahana had been left in the corner, which she was fine with, but despite how she healed the samurai, it seemed as though her wounds weren't disappearing. The tears in the armor were still there, the holes, the blood. Sakura quickly wiped the sweat and tears from her face as she looked around helplessly.

She wanted to help, but why did it feel as though she weren't making a difference at all? She shook her head lighty tapping the side of it with a clenched fist. She couldn't think those thoughts, not on the battlefield. She would help Kazahana. Sakura searched for the familiar figure that she managed to lose track of in the split second, eyes widening as she saw her retainer surrounded by four ninjas, expertly dodging her attacks while throwing shuriken back with excellent precision.

"K-Kazahana!" The young princess cried, running towards the but tripping on a stray bamboo stalk. The shoot cut into her leg, forcing tears to her eyes, moreso out of the fact that she'd really be unable to make it to Kazahana than out of pain. She began to think that all hope was going to be lost until a vial was thrown her way, landing perfectly within her reach. She picked it up, carefully turning it in her fingers. A concoction.

"Sakura-sama, it is unsightly for a princess to be found sprawled out like that on the ground." Tsubaki lifted her up with a kind hand.

"B-but -," She looked up at Kazahana, finding the samurai protectively hidden underneath a large dragon that easily threw aside the elite ninjas with its double pronged horns.

"Come, Sakura-sama." Tsubaki said, gesturing for her to drink the potion. "Let's bring you around. There are many soldiers who need your help out there." Sakura nodded, hopping on the pegasus and grasping her staff tightly as she searched for injured units. She would help.

 

***

 

"You must be Aoi." A kind voice sounded through the air as the dragon turned around to find herself face to face with a pheonix. "I've heard many great things about you." Aoi reverted back to her human form, blinking in surprise as she saw an unfamiliar scarred face. "I'm Yuugiri, an acquaintance of your mother, Mikoto." The woman said, bobbing up and down on her mount. "It's a pleasure to see you in person. You resemble her a lot." She smiled heartily before flying away, gracefully taking an enemy down with a single shot from her bow before reaching to her side for a strapped naginata to apprehend another that appeared from her right.

"I...resemble her a lot?" Aoi whispered to herself, before grasping her dragonstone tighter. She transformed into a dragon again, feeling as though she were soaring despite finding herself sinking in one of the many swamps that surrounded them. She had never been told that before in her life -she did grow up without a mother, but after she had met Mikoto for the first time in a long while, she had decided that she wanted to be like her someday, even if it was just a bit.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Aoi called out to the samurai beside her as he struggled with an elite ninja. She silently berated herself for letting one slip past her notice; she didn't come here to be distracted by her thoughts.

"Oi, don't worry about me!" He said playfully, overpowering and disabling the ninja the second he found an opening. "What's with all these strong enemies though?" He exclaimed as he carefully made his way out of the sharp bamboo field. He ran the rest of the distance towards Aoi, gesuring to a few soldiers scattered about, "First of all, Ryouma's not here, but we'll get to that after we fight. That man there -," He pointed to a red-haired ninja, "Is Kotarou. He's holding Kagerou hostage, and Saizou and Orochi are here as well; they said that Kagerou went to go find Ryouma but got captured on her way back to report to them. " Hinata searched around some more before his eyes lit up, "Oh, and that's Yuugiri -I saw you were talking to her earlier, so you probably don't need introductions. By the way, have you seen Takumi-sama?" He added, suddenly looking around.

"Ah, don't tell me you lost track of him again." Aoi said with a small grin. That was another reason why she wanted to take Oboro along -despite how reliable Hinata was as a retainer, he got sidetracked easily. He would be halfway across the battlefield before he even remembered what his original task was. "I'll go look for him, you should make your way over to Kazahana, she could use some backup." Hinata nodded, before going off in the direction Aoi pointed him towards and yelling for the younger samurai to wait up.

Aoi continued making her way down the center of the battlefield, taking out the enemies that popped out in her way while also taking care to help out any allies that were having particular trouble. She noticed that the enemies tended to swarm over to her though, no doubt curious as to why there was a massive dragon in the middle of the battlefield. She could feel the weariness of war catch up to her, but luckily she had taken part of their inventory with her, healing herself up with the necessary potions when needed.

Aoi reverted back to her human form as she began to worry over having not seen Takumi or Oboro anywhere -they wouldn't be foolish enough to attack Kotarou by themselves, would they? She paused, a feeling of dread welling up inside of her before she realized that they would. At least, Takumi would. She ran as quickly as she could towards where Hinata mentioned Kotarou would be, fingers fumbling with spellbooks and shooting them at the enemies that popped up along the way.

She let out a curse as she fired off another shot and saw Takumi's figure in the distance, exactly where she hoped he wouldn't be. She tossed aside her tome for a sword -she hadn't quite gotten the hang of how to use magic yet, she would be more useful with her sword. "Takumi, what do you think you're doing?!" She yelled, picking up her pace.

Takumi turned around, Fuujin bow in one hand and barely holding up Oboro in the other. Aoi's eyes narrowed. She most likely tried to protect Takumi somehow after he foolishly ran headfirst into the enemy. With a yell, Aoi threw herself at Kotarou, disarming him while he was distracted by trying to take out Takumi and Oboro.

The ninja jumped backwards, fumbling for a handful of shuriken to toss at her as he attempted to retreat. Aoi easily brushed them aside with a single swipe of her head, but roared in surprise as he managed to hit her front leg. She could feel her head burning with pain as she felt herself become angrier -she never tried to stay in draconic form for long, for fear that she might one day lose her mind.

However at the moment, her primary concern was allowing Takumi and Oboro to escape, so she made one reckless decision to lunge forward, ignoring the pain of the shuriken, ignoring how the rest of the enemies started to surround her in a semicircle with loud shouts, and transformed right back into a human, her petite frame allowing her to dodge the attacks that had were meant to bury in her chest, instead fallling harmlessly to the ground, "Release the hostage and command your soldiers to stop, or I'll end it right here." She snarled, allowing her right hand to transform into a dragon claw and wrap tightly around Kotarou's neck.

"A-alright!" The ninja choked out in shock, gesturing to the priestesses around him, "R-release the prisoner and retreat!" His eyes were wide and mindless as though he still couldn't figure out what had just transpired before him. Aoi threw him aside, planting her sword into the ground.

"I suggest you run away as far and fast as you can. Some of my soldiers may not be as willing to let you go as I am." The ninja glared at Aoi, his line of sight falling behind her and towards Takumi, causing him to shake and visibly pale.

"You'll get what's coming." He spat out nervously before scrambling up and running away in the opposite direction. Aoi sighed, sheathing her sword to her side again and picking up the spellbook she had thrown carelessly away earlier. She made her way over to Takumi, searching around for a certain white haired butler.

"Where's Joker?" She asked, checking the two over. Takumi looked exhausted, but had managed to dodge any serious attacks. A few stray cuts were here and there but nothing that needed immediate tending to. Oboro however, was unconcious and seemed to have a bad injury on her shoulder that had been poorly wrapped up in a crimson strip of cloth.

"I don't know, he went off to help Aqua." He sighed, "Can you hurry and get Sakura instead?" Aoi nodded, reaching into her bag and handing him a concoction. Takumi eyed her suspiciously, "Have you really lost your wits? Unconcious people can't use this."

Aoi rolled her eyes, "It's for you. I'll get Sakura for Oboro -but we can't stay here. We have to move west, towards the bottom of the mountain where the rest of the soldiers are waiting." She motioned for him to come closer, "I'll help her onto your back, you can carry her over until then." Takumi grunted his approval, obediently walking over.

"Just...hurry up and find Sakura afterwards."

Aoi sighed, hoisting Oboro onto her brother's back. They were lucky that she was light and wore little armor, Takumi looked about ready to collapse. "I'll be right back." With that said, she transformed into a dragon again, eyes searching for a certain pink haired princess. She wasn't too worried about Sakura's safety -She had told Tsubaki to go after her earlier while she helped Kazahana, and she knew that the younger girl would be safe in the air. Aoi didn't have to look long before she found her, happily hugging Yuugiri in what seemed like an unexpected reunion. She supposed the two people knew each other at some point.

"My my, Sakura you've grown so much!" The golden kite warrior was saying, stroking the younger girl's hair. "Look at you, so pretty and brave!" Sakura beamed happily, blushing shyly.

"It's really good to see you again, Miss Yuugiri." She said, standing on her tiptoes. "It's good to see you too." She added in, patting the crown of the pheonix mount. "I've missed you both. So much has happened since I last saw you!" She exclaimed, prickles of tears forming.

"U-um, greetings again." Aoi said awkwardly, quickly walking beside the two before they got deeper in conversation, "Sakura, I need you to come with me to see Oboro really quick." She said, before bobbing her head quickly towards Yuugiri, "Is that...alright, Miss? Just for a moment?"

Yuugiri laughed loudly, "Of course, no need to be so formal! Treat me like any of your other soldiers please, it'd make me feel less old."

"I-Im sorry!" Aoi yelped, bowing again. "You're not old at all!" She continued, hearing the pheonix let out a chortle of amusement. She wondered if the creature thought it funny that a dragon would bow down to it. "I'll see you later then." She hurriedly said as Sakura clambered on her back.

The young priestess giggled as she held onto Aoi's horns as they soared through the skies, "Sister, you were all flustered back there." She said, pressing a palm against her mouth to stifle the laughter, "You're always so calm and collected...it was a bit refresing!" Aoi cleared her throat, embarrassed. "N-no, I didn't mean it that way...!" Sakura rushed to explain, sitting up higher. "It's just that...you and Hinoka...you're both my older sisters, and you're both so mature...I want to grow up into someone like you guys. Someone that mother and father will be proud of." She finished, gripping Aoi's horns tighter.

The dragon chuckled, "Sakura, we're already all plenty proud of you. You could stand to loosen up a bit yourself," She continued, laughing, "You seem a bit too mature at times. Makes me sit straighter sometimes." Aoi inwardly let out a sigh of relief as she felt Sakura relax her hold. She felt bad for making her go through so much -a girl as young as herself, she didn't deserve to be in the midst of a war.

"S-sister, over there!" Sakura suddenly yelled, pointing to the right, "I see Brother and Oboro!" Aoi quickly turned, landing a distance off so as not to knock the two off their feet. She reverted back into human form, accidentally toppling Sakura over in her haste. Helping the younger girl up, they ran over to Takumi, hand in hand, Aoi occasionally lifting Sakura over particularly sharp or long bamboo shoots.

Takumi slumped to the ground as soon as they neared, falling to his knees with Oboro still on his back. Sakura walked up to him first, cautiously checking the lancer for her wounds to see how serious they were. Aoi saw that Takumi at least looked a bit outwardly better -all the scratches and bruises were gone already, he must have drank the concoction she had given him while walking over.

"S-she's okay." Sakura said loudly, her voice wavering slightly, "She has some bad injuries, but none that she can't heal from." Takumi tsked in annoyance.

"Will she still be able to wield a naginata?" He asked immediately, still hunched over. Aoi furrowed her eyebrows. Was that honestly all he cared about? She felt her pride in him slowly deflate, not that it would matter to Takumi either way.

"B-brother, of course she'll be able to." Sakura continued, looking a bit nervous, "It just looks as though she's overworked herself...I don't think she got any sleep last night. And it would appear she suffered a bad hit from a shuriken, but there wasn't any nerve damage or anything. It'll all heal with time."

"Good. Thanks Sakura." Takumi quickly muttered, patting the younger girl's head. He stood up again, marching forward towards the rest of the group. Aoi stormed angrily after him, roughly tapping him on the shoulder until he shot a glare at her.

"She risked her own life saving yours, and all you ask is whether she'll ever be able to fight again?!" Aoi exclaimed, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "You know what, you may think I'm a terrible, terrible person, but you can't honestly be any better." She huffed at him, transforming into a dragon and grabbing Sakura in her arms before piercings the skies with an angry roar.

 

***

 

"Aoi." The dark haired girl looked up, red eyes somber and tired. It was the middle of the night -the group decided to take their rest in a clearing in the middle of the forest near the foot of the mountain. It would take an hour or so at most to reach the rest of the group waiting there tomorrow.

"Why aren't you asleep, Aqua." She said, more so out of politeness than curiosity. "Are you feeling all right?" She suddenly asked, checking the older girl over for possible wounds. "I told you not to overexert yourself!" She said quietly.

The songstress shook her head, placing a hand on the princess to calm her down, "It's not about me." She said, looking over the girl carefully, "Do you want to tell me about what happened earlier today? With Takumi?" She asked calmly, yellow chatoyant eyes gauging her for a response. Aoi groaned, dropping her head in her arms. She had been trying to forget about the event all day -it was a chapter she truly wished to erase from her life.

She had spent all week trying to get closer to her brother, to earn his trust. And she might as well not have tried at all; all that effort was erased when she spouted those cruel words to him earlier that day. But then again, she wasn't wrong. She refused to admit to being wrong. Even if she was...just a little, maybe.

"Tell me Aqua," Aoi suddenly said, turning so that she was directly facing her, "Subordinates are equally important to their lords, right?" She asked, almost pleadingly. She knew that her siblings in Nohr had a good relationship with their subordinates -she herself, was on great terms with Joker, Felicia, and Flora. Even Suzukaze, who hadn't known her long but even so deemed her worthy enough to serve under. They were all as important to her as her family were.

Aqua pursed her lips, thinking deeply, "You're talking about Takumi and Oboro?" She said after a moment. A soft smile graced her peaceful face as she watched Aoi's expression contort into a confused surprise, "Sakura briefed me. She's really worried, you know. She wants you and Takumi to be friends, really bad." Aoi felt a deep regret inside her stomach. Sakura had tried really hard to have them get along with each other. Insisting they walk together while traveling, asking her to offer Takumi his favorite food, it was all her.

Aqua sat beside Aoi, leaning against the tree so that their shoulders touched. "Takumi...is a bit hard to understand at times." She began, her fingers playing with the grass beneath them, "Despite what he may seem like at times, he's still just a child." Aoi knocked her head against the bark, gazing at the camp in front of her and wincing as her hair got caught behind her. "Like any other child, Takumi just wants attention. And at this moment, all of it's on you. Do you see what I mean?"

Aoi groaned again, curling her knees towards her body, "Please, Aqua. Before I start to call you mom, just get to the point." The blue haired woman giggled, nudging her shoulder.

"Oboro is very important to Takumi, despite what it seems. I know that what brings Oboro the most happiness in the world is serving Takumi." She continued, holding up a stray leaf close to her face, "What do you think would happen to Oboro if she were no longer able to fight?" Aoi looked towards her companion, new information swirling in her head. Oboro's greatest happiness was serving Takumi...she was his retainer...if she were no longer able to wield the naginata, she would...lose the right to serve him as well.

The dark haired girl suddenly stood up, eyes searching frantically for the medical tent. Suzukaze had once told her -the best soldiers in Hoshido, the ones that against all odds made it to the top, had the right to choose the lord they wished serve. How had Oboro and Takumi met anyway? She mentally beat herself up as she robotically moved towards her destination. She didn't know anything about those two and their relationship. She had no right to judge them, to judge Takumi.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She exclaimed to herself, beating the sides of her head with gloved fists.

"Sister!" Aoi stopped midaction as she looked down to see Sakura, bright eyed and grinning up at her. "What a surprise to see you here."

"Haha..." Aoi let her awkward laughter die down as she leaned towards the glowing object the younger girl cradled in her arm. "What's that?" She asked curiously, running her hands across its length. It sparkled, radiant as a swarmful of fireflies in the pitch darkness.

"A shining bow!" Sakura exclaimed, holding it up excitedly, "Brother gave it to me, he said someone left it on the battlefield." She pretended to string an arrow and shoot it at the campfire. "Apparently it's fuelled by magic. Now even I can help fight!" She said proudly, puffing up her chest. "I'm going to go practice right now." Aoi smiled at her younger sister's rapidly descending back.

Sakura was one of the most hardworking soldiers she had ever seen before, despite her age. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for her to work harder either; she could really use the bow practice. Aoi reached into the pocket near her cape, brushing her thumb over the seal on the hidden item. She wanted to reclass to an adventurer as soon as possible, but she would be especially vulnerable without her dragonstone and swords, so she wanted to master archery beforehand. She sighed in aggravation, steeling her mind and flipping over the tent door to duck inside. She recognized a few faces as she scanned the injured soldiers lined up, Saizou, Orochi, even Tsubaki. Luckily, they seemed to be fine and were all sleeping soundly, peacefulness present on their calm faces. A brilliantly drawn picture of a river was clutched tightly in the arms of Orochi, who let out a content sigh as Aoi passed by her.

Aoi tiptoed to the back, where a dim light shone. She sat down beside the slouching figure wordlessly, twitching nervously. She absolutely had no idea what to say. The two sat in silence for a moment, watching over a single person on the ground, face contorted in restlessness.

"She constantly has nightmares, so sometimes she thinks it's better if she doesn't sleep at all." Takumi finally spoke up, head rested in his arms. Aoi pursed her lips respectfully, still not absoutely sure what to say and where to start. But she would try.

"Takumi, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier. It was wrong of me to make a snap judgement like that and I was feeling a lot of emotions, so I may have taken it out on you and it's not fair at all -," Aoi started rambling, hands waving erratically in the air as she couldn't stop herself from letting it all out.

The prince sighed in irritation, "It's alright!" He exclaimed, immediately quieting as Oboro stirred. "I mean, I was kind of being a bit cruel too." He added, cheeks faintly tinged in red. "I still blame you for our mother's death...but let's try to get along from now on. It's not as though I'm the only one suffering from that loss." Aoi positively beamed -she was practically brimming with happiness.

"I saw Sakura with her shining bow earlier." She stated conversationally, trying to control her voice so as not to let her excitement show through. Aoi would definitely lose what little respect Takumi already had for her if she were to act this childish. "Want to try teaching us both some archery tomorrow?"

Takumi groaned, barely audible, "It can't be helped, can it? I'm the only competent archer in the family, after all." Aoi grinned at him, happy to have made some progress. Maybe she'd get Yuugiri to give her some pointers first -pleasantly surprise Takumi for a change. The two spent the rest of the night together in comfortable silence, watching over Oboro until they fell asleep themselves, heads downward in awkward bows.


	2. Most Nights I Hardly Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit about Oboro's past and a briefed over fighting scene ~

Oboro's eyes flew open as she suppressed a scream that had began to form upon her lips. She had another nightmare -however for once, it wasn't of her parents' murder; instead, she had dreamt that she lost all function in her arm and was dropped as Takumi's retainer. She shuddered in fright, no knowing what she would do if that were to happen in real life. Become a fashion designer? Perhaps, but not with one working arm.

She stretched heartily, feeling a tinge of satisfaction as her right arm protested in pain. She could still feel it -the damage wasn't bad, at least. Takumi had insisted upon taking out that ninja leader, Koro or whatever his name was; they had seemingly snuck upon him successfully, but they had underestimated the senses of a seasoned shinobi. The man had detected them as soon as they were within reach and would surely have pierced Takumi's heart if she hadn't -

Oboro hugged herself, shivering. She didn't want to think about it, she couldn't possibly. The very thought terrified her. She sat up, taking a good look at her surroundings -she easily recognized that she was in the makeshift medic tent. Most of the beds were already empty, save for Orochi who was still laying to the side, body sprawled at an uncomfortable looking angle over sheets on the ground. Pieces of colorful paper were strewn caringly across her lightly covered body, pictures of colorful and bright scenery. It was a unique form of art that Oboro hadn't seen before, but found beautiful nonetheless.

She turned her attention to the left, the corner of the room where she hoped she would find her armor; Oboro could already start to see the brightening morning sky through the thin material of the tent. She would get up and find Hinata for a rematch, perhaps. Either way, there was no time to waste. They were in the midst of a war.

Rubbing her eyes wearily, she patted the floor around with a bare arm before snatching it back in surprise as it made contact with something very warm. Suppressing yet another scream, she binked rapidly at the scene in front of her -Takumi and Aoi were sleeping soundly at her side, the prince leaning against the very corner of the tent while their commander had somehow ungracefully slumped onto the floor in an ungraceful heap.

The lancer quickly jumped up, cringing as her aches from yesterday came back suddenly. Letting out a quiet groan she rolled her head to one side and the other, cracking it in satisfaction before leaning over and gently tapping Takumi on the arm.

"Takumi-sama, what are you doing here?" Oboro whispered, wary of waking Aoi. She heard terrifying stories from some of the others that the princess had a terrible attitude in the morning -some soldiers had said that she had to rampage around in dragon form after first waking just to relieve some of that pent up energy. Whatever it was, she didn't want to take her chances. "Takumi-sama!"

The prince's head lolled from its position before he snapped awake, jumping up and hitting Oboro on the chin with the top of his head. "Ow!" The girl yelped as she gripped her face, tears springing to her eyes. Did she just bite her tongue? She kept her hand over her shut mouth, too frightened to even check.

"O-Oboro, you're awake!" Takumi exclaimed, pointing at her almost accusingly. "How are you feeling? Are you okay? Was that me? Did I just hit you?" Oboro blinked wordlessly in surprise as question after question flew out of her lord's mouth. Perhaps, did she give him a concussion when he hit his head on her chin? She had never heard him so...out of sorts before.

"Takumi-sama, are you okay?" She asked, looking him over. He appeared to be the same person, and no physical wounds at that. "Er, yeah." The prince replied quickly, face reddening as he looked off to the side. "Also...sorry about yesterday." He added, looking down guiltily at the floor. It was his fault that she got injured after all.

Oboro shook her head quickly, "Takumi-sama, please don't feel responsible for what happened. We shall not speak of it." She said immediately, noting how conflicted he looked. She felt nothing towards the matter, it was her duty as his subordinate to protect him anyways. She couldn't bear to see him looking down over something as silly as that. She quickly knelt down in front of him in perfect poise, picking up the gauntlets that he had taken off late last night and presenting them to him without much thought.

It wasn't unusual for subordinates to help their lords get ready in the morning, especially not with Oboro and Takumi; they had practically grown up together, and even used to sleep in the same room before they became older and she started training as a lancer while he had his princely duties to attend to. They methodically passed each other various articles of clothing as though they were still children and sharing the living quarters -Takumi exchanged a braided headband for a dark blue scarf while an orange bow that had somehow ended up underneath Aoi had to be wrestled out of the young commander's strong grip before being tied with perfection at Oboro's nape by gentle gloved hands.  
"Greetings." Oboro bobbed her head in acknowledgement as a brunette ninja walked inside the tent, cheeks dotted in a dark color.

"Oh, good morning Kagerou." Takumi said reflexively, doing his best to ignore the inky streaks running across her exposed skin. "It's good news everyone was able to make it out safely."

The woman nodded, eyes flickering briefly to Aoi's unconcious form at the back of the tent, "It's all thanks to the commander. She's...different that what I expected." Kagerou said slowly, her eyes downcast, as though recalling how she had called her a traitor the last time they had met. She shifted uncomfortably, subtlety moving her arms so that the papers she held were hidden from sight.

"Did you make those beautiful paintings, perhaps?" Oboro quickly asked in hopes of redirecting the conversation. She stretched her neck out to get a better glance, eyes widening curiously as she caught the faintest glimpse of splashes of colors. She hadn't known that Kagerou was such a talented artist -she didn't even think she recalled ever seeing her draw before. But then again, Kagerou kept her life mostly private, except from Orochi, her best friend she had grown up with.

"Um, yes, that is." The brunette muttered, blushing deeply, "I-I'm sorry, I'm just going to leave these here." She said quickly, putting the sheets beside a certain purple-haired exorcist before immediately disappearing out of sight. Oboro bit the inside of her cheek lightly; she'd be lying if she said she had never before wished for a close friend like what Kagerou and Orochi had -but with her "demonic face", it was difficult for people to willingly talk to her.

Even Hinata, someone who she saw as an older brother -and occasionally irritating father -had told her numerous times that her face was terrifying and she had to fix it. On the other hand, the only person it didn't seem to bother...was perhaps Takumi. But no, they could never be friends. No matter how much she wished, to some degree.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Oboro snapped out of her thoughts to find the prince looking down at her in concern. He had already stood up and looked about ready to leave. The lancer quickly followed suit, dusting her legs off and stretching her arms for the last time.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out." She quickly mumbled, embarrassed to have wasted her lord's time, "Let us regroup with the others then." Takumi shot her another worried glance before nodding curtly and making his way outside -Oboro followed obediently, carefully keeping her distance.

 

***

 

"Ah-ooooi," The dark haired princess groaned wearily, slapping away a persistent hand with still fully shut eyes, "Aoi!" The voice grew louder and more demanding. The princess still refused to budge, refused to open her eyes or mouth. She wouldn't be a cliche and ask for five more minutes. No, she wouldn't ask -she would stubbornly stay still until the five minutes was up, no matter who was prodding her.

"S-sister, please get up." This time it was Sakura's voice, but Aoi still wouldn't give. She was exhausted; one could not stay in dragon form for long without feeling the after effects of it. Her brain begged for her to ask for a few more minutes of sleep, but she found she was too lazy to even mumble the words out. Perhaps she was a cliche.

"Well, it's come to this." The first voice said again, and Aoi felt a foreboding silence before she was slapped roughly on the face.

"Hey, what gives?!" She exclaimed, eyes fully opening and jumping up, ready to launch herself at whoever dared attack her while she was resting. She found herself looking eye to eye with Rinka, perhaps the only one of her soldiers who wouldn't be afraid to challenge her. Aoi sighed, knowing that it was useless to fight with her. She had been knocked unconcious by the oni savage before after all. "Did I sleep in -," Aoi started before finding herself suddenly thrown down onto her side roughly.

"Sister! Are you alright?" Sakura yelled worriedly, rushing to her side with a staff clutched between two shaking hands, "Are you feeling a bit motion sick?"

"Motion sick?" Aoi repeated, rubbing her head and taking a good look at her surroundings. Her jaw dropped as she found herself surrounded by wood and the overwhelming scent of the sea. "We're on a ship?!" She screeched, jumping to her feet before being thrown downwards again, "Were we captured?" She exclaimed, looking around herself desperately. Her concern of being kidnapped again diminished greatly as she saw that the rest of her soldiers were there, seemingly safe and sound.

Rinka sighed, crouching down and squatting in front of her, club thrown over her shoulder, "You slept through an entire day. Tsubaki carried your unconcious form on his pegasus -we're heading to Chevalier. By ship."

"Chevalier?" Aoi whispered, immediately recognizing the name of the province. "T-that's in Nohr, isn't it?!"

Aqua stepped up this time, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Yes, we're heading to Nohr. Kagerou said that's where Ryouma went -Chevalier is one of the rebel cities, and he's attempting to recruit them. Perhaps we could get them to see some sense while we're at it, have them join forces with us to unite the lands and bring peace." She said firmly, silencing Aoi's words of protests. Her eyes were filled with genuine concern as she looked the younger girl over. "Maybe you should rest up some more, we'll need everyone to be at their full strength once we reach our destination. There's no telling what'll happen there." Aoi bit her lip, shushing reluctantly. She was being selfish. Aqua was probably much more nervous to be back in Nohr than she was; after all, the songstress had been taken from there, her birthplace, at such a young age to Hoshido. She had been and still was viewed as a traitor by both sides. She was in a worse position than Aoi herself.

"I'll be fine." Aoi said, standing up shakily and gripping the first thing that came into reach. There was no way she was going to be able to get any rest in knowing that Rinka would be ready to slap her at any given second anyways. "How are all the injured soldiers doing? Have they recovered?" She asked, scanning the crowd for those she had seen in the medic tent. Orochi was standing off to the side, laughing loudly and oblivious of what was going on around her while Kagerou stood close to her, nose buried deep into her goldenrod scarf. Saizou paced around restelessly, eyeing the people around him warily while Suzukaze followed him, attempting to get his attention. "Has anyone seen Oboro?" She added, not seeing the blue haired lancer anywhere in sight.

"I saw her earlier somewhere around back." Kazahana said, briefly breaking her staring contest with Tsubaki to reply, "She looks like she's recovered. No injuries of any sort to report for anyone, really." She continued, before quickly turning around to reassure Sakura that her two retainers were totally not fighting again.

"Thanks." Aoi said gratefully, making her way to the back of the ship on steadier feet. She trusted Kazahana's words enough, but she felt that it wouldn't hurt to give the young lancer some company. She had a feeling that Oboro was often lonely, for some reason. Not many of the soldiers seemed to know much about her aside from Hinata and possibly Takumi.

Aoi waved shyly at Yuugiri as she saw the older woman walk by, mentally reminding herself to ask her for archery lessons sometime when they weren't on a floating vessel of death. Yuugiri seemed to have found her cautiousness in walking aboard a moving ship amusing, chuckling as Aoi practically stomped towards her destination.

She didn't blame her -she would have probably thought herself to look ridiculous too. She had never been on a ship before though, and the very idea that they were basically in a wooden box in open waters terrified her. How did they even float? What if there were holes in the wood? It was probably a good thing they didn't wake her when they brought her onboard -Aoi would have surely thrown a fit and insisted on flying all the way there, though that probably wasn't even possible.

It felt like hours had passed before she finally spotted Oboro, leaning against the frame of the ship and looking at the brightening horizon. "Oboro." Aoi said, breathing heavily as she landed beside her safely, "I finally found you." The lancer turned towards her, an expression of cluelessness on her face.

"Aoi-sama, were you looking for me? Whatever for?" Aoi shrugged, leaning against the interior of the ship and somewhat enjoying the cool breeze on her face. Perhaps ships weren't that bad after all. If you didn't need to walk, that is.

"Nothing in particular." She said blandly, deciding not to ask whether she had healed up. Oboro was looking fine enough, and she probably didn't need a waking reminder of what had happened those two days ago. "I thought I'd drop by and keep you company."

"Oh, is that so?" Oboro looked genuinely surprised as she said that, but also slightly content. "Well, it's good to see that you've finally woken. Some of the soldiers were beginning to think that their commander had passed." She said teasingly, a smile quirked on her lips.

"W-what!" Aoi exclaimed, thoroughly embarrassed. She had heard the stories before -that the princess was so terrifying in the morning that no one dared to wake her up lest they wanted to be turned into dragon fodder. "I-I'm not usually a heavy sleeper." She quickly said, crossing her arms, "I was just particularly tired that day."

"Relax, I'm just playing."

"H-haa..." Aoi trailed off, berating herself for getting so easily provoked. She kept forgetting that Oboro was probably one of the youngest soldiers in their army, judging by Takumi's age -it was difficult to imagine her joking around. Then again, she really still didn't know her all that well. "Oboro, how old are you?" She suddenly asked, burning with curiosity. Despite being pretty young herself at 19 years old, she had seniority for being royalty as well as commander and was referred to in honorifics even by those older than her. Due to that, it was especially hard for her to judge the ages of others. Nevertheless, Aoi knew for a fact that the youngest soldier was Sakura, at a mere 15 years old and only one year older than Elise, her Nohrian adoptive sister. She didn't have much knowledge over the retainers' ages, but she had prior knowledge that Kazahana was also one of the youngest people in their army; Sakura had mentioned that she was only 16, which was probably why she was so easily baited by Tsubaki all the time.

"You're around Takumi's age, right? Eighteen?" Aoi continued, looking around for her brother. Oboro was about as tall as Kazahana and an entire head shorter than Takumi, but most of their female soldiers including herself were on the shorter side.

"My age?" Oboro looked surprised, "I'm sixteen." She paused, eyes narrowing as she gauged Aoi's reaction, "Is something the matter?"

Aoi was definitely taken aback by her words. Even though she had figured Oboro to be rather young, she still guessed her to be older than that. She just seemed to have a more mature disposition. "You're a lot younger than I assumed." Aoi finally said, leaning on her elbows and looking down at the water. "I always imagined you were...somewhere closer to my age. Maybe even older than Takumi, possibly."

Oboro chuckled, brushing a stray hair back, "Is that a compliment?" She asked, smirking a bit, "I'll be seventeen sometime soon though, if that means anything. Age is just but a number anyways. Don't let it define you."

Aoi laughed quietly, "See what I mean? Saying stuff like that..." She shifted her feet uncomfortably, wondering whether it was okay to ask her more. She was the worst at conversations sometimes, but she liked her. "Say Oboro...how long have you known Takumi? How did you two meet?"

"Eh? First my age, now this so suddenly..." Oboro peered at her suspiciously, "You're not trying to get closer to me to weasel information about Takumi-sama, are you?" She huffed softly, crossing her arms. "If you want to know about my prince, ask him yourself. He's your brother after all -I'm not sure he'd appreciate his retainer leaking out his personal information." Despite her firm words, Aoi thought she looked slightly upset for a different reason.

"That's not it at all! I'm genuinely curious about you. I'd like to know about your past." Aoi said truthfully, hoping dearly she didn't offend the girl. Oboro looked up at her a bit hopefully at that point, seeming a bit nervous and a whole lot surprised herself. Aoi felt a bit saddened as she realized that it was probably the first time anyone had ever said those words to her.

"Well, if that's the case..."

 

***

 

"You must be Oboro." Oboro, an orphan at only five years old, gazed sadly at the loving face in front of her. Her eyes welled with tears at the thought of her own mother, gone forever at the hands of a Nohrian assassin. They hadn't even done anything wrong -they were good people, so why them? Why her? The woman gave her a soft smile, stroking her tears away with gentle fingers. "Such a pretty name for a pretty girl. You mustn't let sadness overcome you -but right now, it's alright to cry if you feel pain."

Oboro spent a good half hour sobbing in the woman's arms, oblivious to the protests of the servants and soldiers around them. She cried until she felt even her parents from the heavens had heard her, until she felt there wasn't an ounce of liquid left inside her body. Once she stopped, she backed away shyly, missing the already familiar warmth of the woman's arms.

"Do you feel better now?" The woman asked, stroking the girl's long, unruly hair softly. Oboro nodded, bashful all of the sudden. The woman stood up, holding her hand carefully in her own delicate ones. "You must have been so lonely, so scared." She said sadly, gazing into the distance longingly, "I know how it feels to lose a loved one."

Oboro peered at her curiously, wondering if she had also lost her parents. Oboro's parents had owned a kimono shop and catered towards much of the residents of Hoshido -they had even recieved requests from the royal family before to personally tailor their clothes for them. She had been so proud of them, so happy with them. She imagined she would one day grow up to follow in their footsteps, creating the most fashionable and intricately designed clothing for the royals themselves.

Oboro and her parents had been traveling in a wagon the night she lost them -her parents had gotten a request from a Nohrian living by the border, and with the royal family's consent, had been on their way before they were struck down. Oboro had been quickly hidden behind rolls of fabric by her mother, before she witnessed her being struck down by a dark soldier on a midnight horse. She had hidden in the wagon for two entire days, before royal Hoshidan guards had found her and brought her to the palace.

"I'm Mikoto, by the way." The woman suddenly said as they were walking, grinning down at her, "If you ever need anything, please just ask for me. I'll come running." She said, giggling softly. Oboro looked away, nodding quickly. She still had no idea who this woman was -the soldiers had brought her to the palace, and she had been greeted by her without any other sort of introduction. "I have an older daughter, but now she's too old to want to be showered with love by her mother." Mikoto continued, laughing at a fond memory. "You should have seen her face when I tried getting her to wear a dress!" She exclaimed, cupping her cheek with her free hand. "But my younger daughter, she's so quiet and obedient. You remind me a bit of her."

Oboro blinked silently, gripping the woman's hand a bit tighter. Was she being kidnapped? Why was this woman telling her all these things? "I have a son who's closer in age to you though." Mikoto took a sharp turn, gently herding the young girl towards the center of the palace. Oboro's eyes widened as she saw the beautiful gardens within and the sparkling water full of lively koi fish, her legs moving along robotically as all coherent thoughts and worries left her body. "He's a bit quiet and stubborn -but I think you two will get along." Mikoto stopped in front of a screen door, rapping on it twice with her knuckles before sliding it open.

"Takumi, are you busy?" She called in a singsong voice, leading the reluctant girl in. "There's someone I want you to meet." Oboro planted her feet at the edge of the room, wariness back as she nervously looking around. The place was extremely dark and silent -a single bedroll lay in the middle, unkempt and messy. Various toy weapons and figures were strewn across the floor, evoking tsks from Mikoto as she stepped over them cautiously. "Takumi, did you hear me?" She called again, tone still as calm as ever.

"I'm busy!" A boyish voice called from the corner, grunting. Oboro felt herself allow Mikoto to pull her across the room, closer towards the source of the sound. She stared silently beside the older woman as she found herself looking at the back of a figure with messy hair that had been hazardously tucked into a bun. The boy heaved as he tugged at a figure in his hands, pulling at an object with both his hands while using his feet to kick at the other end.

"Takumi, did you try shooting arrows again?!" Mikoto exclaimed, kneeling down behind the boy. "What did I tell you? You almost shot Ryouma last time you were playing with them!"

"Just...a...second!" Takumi yelped, suddenly falling over on his back as the arrow was yanked out of the figure, past his hands, and went flying. Oboro let out a cry and fell backwards as she felt it hit above her shoulder, burrowing deep into her hair. "I-I'm sorry!" The boy yelled, running over to her immediately, and helping her up. "I'll get it out." He said, red tinging his cheeks as he tried gently untangling the arrow.

Oboro blushed, biting her lip as she stood obediently still while the boy was hard at work. She had never seen anyone as handsome as him before, and she could feel herself quickly losing her wits.

"All better." Takumi said, holding the arrow up triumphantly and tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "That's why I keep my hair up." He said humorously, pointing to his messy updo.

"Takumi." The boy suddenly paled as Mikoto stood up behind him, broken figure in hand. "Isn't this the present Hinoka received for her seventh birthday?" She said accusingly, giving him a hard stare.

"U-uh, no...I don't think so..." Takumi said, slowly backing away. He looked around desperately for an exit, eyes lighting up as she spotted the screen door that Mikoto hadn't closed on her way in. "Run!" He yelled, grabbing Oboro's hand and tearing out of the room. The two laughed as they slid down wooden floors, jumped from tiled cobblestones that emerged from the midst of the ponds, and hid behind colorful rhododendron bushes.

"Oh, I'm Takumi by the way." He suddenly said, scratching his head sheepishly as they ducked behind the leaves. "I'm sorry about that earlier. I want to be a great archer like mother some day. What's your name?" Oboro reddened from the sudden eye contact, directing her gaze to the ground.

"O-oboro." She stated, playing with her hair.

"Here, let me." The young boy shifted so that he was standing behind her, dangling a dark blue braided string in front of her. "I made this myself. You can have it." He said, using it to tie her hair into a similar fashion as his own. "I'm not so good, but it keeps it up!" Takumi scratched his head, smiling proudly. "Now we match." Oboro smiled back, feeling her heart lighten for the first time that week.

The two became fast friends, doing nearly everything together; with Sakura at a mere two years old, Mikoto focused all her attention on the youngest child. Ryouma and Hinoka hung out with older children and were capable to handling actual weapons at that time, so the two typically spent their time training and studying together. Takumi had always been a bit lonely, finding it too boring to sit with Sakura while also being forbidden to spar with either of his older siblings.

Oboro supposed she had developed a crush on him the moment she met him -no one had ever been so kind to her before, and every moment they spent from then on only furthered her feelings. She still remembered the day they stopped hanging out together, the day she realized he was the prince. She was eleven at the time, Takumi thirteen. He had started training with his older siblings and she was pulled away to train as well.

Oboro had truthfully only officially been his subordinate for about three years, but they had known each other nearly their entire lives. As soon as she hit age fourteen, she had stood in front of the royal family with lines of other soldiers, each competing for the top positions to become retainers. Against all odds, she outperformed numerous other naginata wielders, immediately choosing to serve under Takumi when prompted by Mikoto.

To be honest, she didn't know if Takumi even realized who she was then -who she was now. They had been apart for three whole years, and they both had changed a lot. Takumi never mentioned or acknowledged anything from their childhood, and Oboro never bothered to bring it up; it would be foolish of her to dwell in the past after all, especially knowing that Takumi was actually the prince. She would be content simply being allowed to stand by his side, even if it was only as his subordinate.

 

***

 

"Well, that's the gist of it." Oboro said at last, leaning on her elbows and looking forlornly at the sea. "Takumi basically helped me in my darkest moments -so the least I can do is to serve him loyally. I do owe him my life, after all."

"Wow, that's..." Aoi trailed off, not sure how to put into words, "A lot deeper than I thought." She finished off lamely, "To be honest, I thought you were just someone who, er...how do I put this..." She turned away awkwardly when Oboro gave her an expectant look, "...I thought you were just some random girl who happened to fall in love with Takumi." She blurted, quickly waving her hands in front of her companion's face, "That's not what I mean though! You're not defined by that at all! I know that now!"

"W-w-wh-what?!" Oboro practically screamed, "L-love?!" She gasped, looking around before ducking downwards and tugging Aoi with her, "W-who told you! I said nothing of the sort."

"Well..." Aoi paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "It's not exactly obvious, but it's not hard to tell, either. You two obviously care about each other very much. I'm pretty sure everyone knows." The young lancer visibly reddened, burying her face in her knees.

"E-everyone...knows...?"

"I-it's not a bad thing!" Aoi stammered, patting her back in what she thought was a comforting manner, but was in all actually more of a slap. It wasn't a secret that she had trouble controlling her strength when she was nervous. "As a matter of fact, I wholeheartedly sup-," The princess stopped mid-sentence as she found herself thrown forward again, sprawling on the floor ungracefully.

"What was that?" Oboro exclaimed, picking herself up from beside Aoi and looking towards the water, "It felt like we hit something."

"Miss Aoi!" A white haired man ran towards the two, clawed hands gripping a staff tightly. "Trouble. It appears as though the sea has suddenly frozen over."

"Frozen over?" Aoi repeated, running to the edge of the ship to look. The butler's words were indeed true; the entire sea, as far as was in sight, was frozen to solid ice, their ship trapped right in the midst of it all. "Everyone regroup!" She called out loudly, running towards the center of the ship where she knew Aqua and the others were. She didn't know how it was possible, but she had a bad feeling about it all.

Aoi felt despair in the pits of her stomach as she heard the distinct noise of wyvern wings flapping above her, ruffling her already messy short hair. It couldn't have been anyone else -she only knew one person with that dark velvet mount, the one with the scarred eye she herself had been the cause of.

"Camilla!" She yelled out, her soldiers backing away as the creature took its cue and landed in front of her. "Is this your doing?"

"Ah, Aoi, my dearest." The older woman said with a sigh, crossing her arms regretfully, "It brings me joy to hear you call my name so...but that tone...I simply cannot bear with it." She patted her wyvern, looking lovingly at the young commander. "Please, stop this ridiculousness and come with your dear older sister. I'll explain to father that you were wrong, you were manipulated. He'd spare you for sure." Aoi bit her tongue, glaring at Camilla.

How could she say such things, when Aoi had made it clear that Nohr was the one in the wrong? It was true that Hoshido wasn't in the right state of mind either, but at least some of their soldiers were willing to put their differences aside to fight with them. And King Garon...he was no father to Aoi. He never had been.

"Camilla, you know I cannot do that." She stated firmly, holding her gaze. "Let us go."

The purple haired rider let out another sorrowful sigh before speaking again, "It is a regret to hear such terrible words come from your lovely self." She said before pulling out a tome from the saddle of her wyvern. "I'm afraid I cannot let you do so. I have no choice but to kill you on the spot."

"Please, Miss Aoi. This is your last chance." Aoi's attention reverted to the figure behind Camilla, previously hidden from view. Her eyes widened as she saw the familiar ligiht blue hair color, not wanting to believe what she saw.

"Flora, you traitor." Joker snarled from beside her, taking out several kunai between his fingers as hatred brought life to his usually dark eyes. "I will personally send you to your unmarked grave." Aoi quickly held up a hand, stopping him from attacking. She would try to prevent fighting until it was absolutely necessary.

"Flora, was this your doing?" As the daughter of the ice tribe's leader, she, along with Felicia, were the only two she knew who were capable of doing such. She just hoped with all her heart that Felicia wasn't involved as well, though she half suspected the clumsy younger twin wouldn't be able to handle a job of such caliber.

The blue haired maid closed her eyes, a look of concentration across her usually stoic features, "Indeed, Miss Aoi. I do not wish to turn against you, but alas I have no choice. My tribe is being held hostage and will be wiped out unless I cooperate." It pained Aoi to hear that she was not acting out of her own will -but deep down, she knew that even if Flora were to succeed in her mission, King Garon would not hesitate to destroy the ice tribe anyways. They held an incredible amount of power and would be seen as a threat to the Nohrian kingdom -knowing that the daughter of their tribe leader had been manipulated as such would not sit well with them.

"If you don't wish to turn against Miss Aoi, then fight along with us." Joker yelled back, anger still marring his features. "Your selfish actions make you an unworthy maid. I am disgusted by your disloyalty." Flora's face briefly contorted into pain as she looked ready to protest, but one glance at the frozen sea made her don her mask again as she reminded herself of the task at hand before looking down at the group with a calm indifference.

"Then we shall fight." Camilla said at last, rising back into the air. "But know that this is a fight you will not win, my love. We have you surrounded." Aoi quickly looked around her, her heart sinking as she saw that the woman was indeed telling the truth. Ships blocked them on either sides, trapping them inside their own vessel.

There would be no quick way to win, and no easy way either. Camilla and Flora were positioned on the ship at the northern end, while Aoi noticed that Camilla's two retainers were directly on their opposite ends. The two ships on the sides would be less harder to take care of, at least; there were the fewest enemy units present, and none of them looked too ready to fight. King Garon most likely only recently discovered of the group's plans to travel to Chevalier and immediately sent whoever was available at the moment.

"Aqua, take Sakura and a group of soldiers to put a stop to the units on our right." Aoi directed, knowing that the older woman would be capable of putting together a strong enough group without using more units than needed. "Takumi," She thought for a bit as she saw her younger brother appear from below in a tired daze. He was strong, but she didn't want him charging headfirst like he did last time. "Take Oboro and Hinata with you to take care of the ship to our south. Bring a group of soldiers along with you -be extra careful, Camilla's retainers are down there and they are quite well-trained."

The archer looked like he was about to protest, before quickly shutting his mouth and nodding instead. He had more than likely recalled what happened the last time he tried to act without thinking things through.

"And Kagerou, Orochi, and Saizou; take a group of soldiers to the left. I'll be heading forward with the rest of you. Also," Aoi raised her voice, making sure that she could be heard by all her soldiers amidst the chaos, "We want as little casualities as possible. Do not harm Flora, Camilla, or her two subordinates." She would not be able to forgive herself if they were to win with any of those four injured or killed -they were equally important to her as her own family.

"Sister, what do her subordinates look like?" Sakura inquired gently, clutching Aqua's arm tightly as she tried to shield herself from the cold.

"Their names are Belka and Luna; Belka's a petite blue haired wyvern rider, and Luna's a rather hot-headed mercenary with long crimson hair." Aoi quickly informed them, making various motions in the air as she tried to recall what they looked like. She had never been on the best terms with them before and they probably despised her now, but she wished to see them unharmed either way. "Let's move out!"

 

***

 

Hinata shivered as he disarmed a soldier that came towards him rather half-heartedly, wiping his nose on an equally frostbitten arm. "Aaah, what's with this cold?" He said to himself, looking around for a familiar figure. His face dropped as he realized that he had left Oboro and Takumi halfway across the ship again. He didn't let it bother him too much though; they seemed to be fending off well enough by themselves and the surrounding allies were helping them greatly.

Their troops may have been overwhelmed by the amount of Nohrian units at first, but most of them seemed as though they didn't want to be there in the first place and had little will to fight. Not many of them got up again after being disarmed or thrown aside, despite what little injuries they recieved. Hinata supposed the cold was another factor -he wondered how long they had been forced to stay in it, traveling to their destination.

Luckily for them, none of Camilla's subordinates had been spotted so far. He had heard about how loyal the retainers for the Nohrian royalty were, and he was sure they'd fight their hardest until the end. He wasn't even really sure how they could be captured, but if it was important to Aoi, he would do his best. Despite serving under Takumi, he wished to be of use to all the royal family members.

"Get out of my way!" Hinata instinctively held his sword above him as someone came crashing down, their much larger one weighing his own down. Surprised by the sudden energy at first, he quickly came to his senses and pushed the person off, readying his stance. He almost laughed when he saw who it was -a sullen girl who frown so heavily, he wouldn't have ben surprised if it permanent. She had long red hair, tied into twin tails. This was most definitely Luna, one of the subordinates Aoi had mentioned. Speak of the devil, he must have jinxed himself.

"What are you staring at?" She yelled, suddenly lunging towards him with a surprisingly swift speed despite her heavy weapon, "Just die already!" Hinata couldn't suppress the grin on his face -how long had it been since he'd had a good fight? It wasn't often he met someone with such energy, he might as well make the most of it.

"Your frown, my princess." He replied, swiftly blocking her attack. She was strong, but lacked tact; each of her movements were headfirst, much like her personality, he thought, "I do not wish to die before seeing you smile!" Hinata teased, wondering how long he could hold her off for. She was bound to get tired quickly from running around and striking like such, it would be a lot simpler to apprehend her then.

"S-shut up!" Luna screamed, her breaths visible in the cold air. She had underestimated the enemy -they usually came down after one or two strikes, but this one had been able to block all of her attacks thus far. She couldn't go on for long if they continued like this.

HInata eyed the girl cautiously -she appeared to be in deep thought, before she lunged again, quickly as usual, but too obvious. Hinata stopped her again with ease, this time flicking his wrist to twist the sword out of the girl's grasp. She let out an annoyed grunt as the weapon fell out of her hand, but swiftly abandoned it for a fallen comrade's blade instead. Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to look for an opening.

It would not work either way, however. Hinata had already figured her out; despite how heavy the weapon she seemed to use was, her movements were always the same speedy pace. But he also noticed a peculiar pattern; right before the mercenary attacked, she would heave the weapon over her shoulder, as though it were too heavy, using that force to temporarily propel herself forward. In close combat, she had the upper hand for sure...but she would not last long at all in a long distance match.

With that thought in mind, Hinata carefully started backing up towards the edge of the ship, as far from Luna as he could get as he feigned cautiousness. The girl didn't seem to pay him much mind, slowly following him as she looked for a moment while he was off guard. Hinata held his breath as she heaved the sword over her shoulder once again, ready to launch herself; As soon as she did so, he blocked her sword, twisting his wrist so that he would be able to disarm her once again.

As Hinata repeated the same action this time, Luna didn't let go as he had expected her to; instead, she kept both hands on her weapon, her face turning into an expression of surprise as she found herself flying along with the sword, overboard. She squeezed her eyes tight as she braced herself for the impact -there was no way she'd survive a fall from the large ship, onto solid ice nonetheless. At least she would die serving Camilla.

Hinata's face mirrored Luna's shock as he watched her fly overboard, jumping towards the ledge without a moment's hesitation and grabbing her hand. Luna's eyes fluttered open as she started to protest, "Just let me die already! Haven't you humiliated me enough?" She yelled, not caring whether she was causing a scene to those below her. "Losing to a half-rate samurai. I don't have the right to face Camilla anymore!"

"H-half-rate?" Hinata exclaimed, tightening his grip, "What about me makes you think I"m half-rate?"

Luna tsked, rolling her eyes, "You! Everything! Your lame hair! That lame scar on your face!" She continued shouting, spewing whatever insults she could wrack from her brain. "A-and what's with those clothes, it's so impractical!" Despite her words, she let out a small shout as she felt herself slipping from the man's grasp; she could feel her hands sliding from her oversized gloves, and the samurai was beginning to look exhausted. "Just let me go already!" She yelled, mentally berating herself for fearing for her life for a moment.

Hinata gritted his teeth. He had never met a more stubborn person before. He dropped his sword, hoping with all his might that no one would try to attack him while he was unarmed and vulnerable. He used his newly free hand to grab Luna's arm while tugging her glove off. "Just be quiet for a second." He muttered, repositioning his grip on her now glove-less hand. He groaned as he pulled her up, not sure if it was because he was tired, she was heavy, or her armor was weighing them down.

Nevertheless, he finally managed to pull her up, collapsing in a heap as she fell back onboard. He let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he had not been attacked while preoccupied. That would have most definitely been counterproductive -not only would he not have been able to save Luna, he would have lost his own life as well.

"Get off me!" Luna yelled from on top of him, looking down at him indignantly. Hinata suppressed another grin, wondering what was up with that girl. She was clearly the one on him, not that he was going to say that. He needed a break, and he was sure she wouldn't hesitate to try to kill him if he said the wrong thing.

"Give me one minute." He said instead, holding up a finger and resting his other hand over his forehead, shielding himself from the sun. When was the last time he had felt this worn out? And despite everything, why did he feel so accomplished?

 

***

 

Belka glared angrily at the archer as he shot the axe from right out of her hand, his next strung arrow directed at her wyvern's heart. The lancer standing to his side didn't help either, her face distorted into a demonic expression as she held a lacquered naginata at her throat. Her life would be ended at any moment, but she refused to step down. She knew that Luna would be the same -if they couldn't beat these Hoshidan soldiers, then they had no right to call themselves royal subordinates.

She felt a bubbling regret rise from her throat, marveling at the newfound emotion. She had been an assassin for years, but never had she felt such raw emotion. Was it because Camilla had told her how dear she was to her the other day, or perhaps Luna who admitted she was her best friend? She had never been told either before, so it had been a particularly strange series of events.

"Our orders were to not harm you." The archer said steely, his hands gripping a glowing bow. Belka snorted, her expression darkening.

"What makes you think I'll cooperate?" She asked, looking around indifferently, "My life is of no value to me. I do not care whether I live or die."

"Silence Nohrian and listen to my lord!" The lancer snarled, eyes burning with hatred. Belka inwardly admitted that she was a bit impressed -she had never seen such a fearsome face before. Not even she evoked such terror in people when she was about to kill them. "Be grateful for what you have." She added, her expression briefly clouding over. Belka found herself a bit curious as to what she could have meant.

"Have it your way." She said instead, sighing as she dismounted her wyvern with her hands up. They could go at this all day and still get nowhere. Plus, she was feeling cold, and her wyvern was perhaps exhausted as well. The archer lowered his bow, gesturing for her to follow him while his subordinate kept her weapon close enough to prod at her back whenever she slackened her pace.

Though she couldn't have cared less, Belka found herself hoping that Luna was faring better than she was. How she had managed to lose herself, she wasn't all too sure. One minute she had been easily overpowering various Hoshidan soldiers, and the next minute those two appeared, disarming her in a mere few seconds. She recognized the archer as a member of the Hoshidan royal family -she knew what they all looked like, thanks to their encounter a month back, when Aoi had first betrayed them.

Belka trodded forward as slowly as she could, her solemn grey eyes slowly looking over her surroundings for a familiar mop of crimson hair. It wasn't a hard task; not only was the color particularly vibrant, but the various soldiers around her positively cringed and ducked away as she gazed at them for a second longer, the killing intent in her eyes clearly visible even from halfway across the ship.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she found herself in the middle of Aoi's ship, her partner not spotted even once. Perhaps even Luna had met her demise at their hands; they had certainly underestimated them. But times in Nohr had been difficult, and none of the soldiers were able to properly take care of themselves. Many had already died of cold and starvation, the royal family members and their subordinates just barely hanging on themselves.

"Belka!" The former assassin flinched as she found herself wrapped tightly in warm arms, too surprised to even protest.

"Miss...Aoi..." She mumbled, looking evenly into the slightly taller girl's eyes. The two weren't familiar with each other; sure, they had met numerous times before in the past, seeing as how Camilla never liked to let the princess out of her sight. However, as a retainer, she had never spoken to her much, nor was she interested in doing so. She liked to keep to herself. Luna, on the other hand, was on better terms with her. She couldn't remember how many boring conversations about the latest trends she had sat through with those two, silent and foreboding.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Aoi said, with her face buried in the former assassin's tattered scarf, "We won't hurt Camilla or Flora either, so please don't worry." She added, holding the girl at arm's length as she looked her over.

Belka tsked in annoyance, "I'm not worried." She said abruptly, despite feeling slightly more lighthearted, "And don't act so familiar with me. You're still the enemy." Aoi frowned, her grip around the girl's upper arms tightening. It must have been Belka's imagination, but she believed the girl looked slightly saddened -it wasn't like she was good at reading emotions anyway though. She chose to ignore it and instead continued her search for Luna.

Aoi finally spoke up again with a sigh, "Well, nevertheless, I'm glad you're not harmed." She repeated, nodding towards the archer and lancer who had apprehended her earlier, "Seems like my instructions were followed carefully." She took Belka's hand in hers tightly, gesturing for soldiers to lower their weapons as she made towards a room near the back of the ship. "I apologize for this, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay here for the time being." She said nervously, "but you'll all be released as soon as the battle ends! I really...don't want to fight you guys."

The blue haired girl grunted, obediently allowing herself to be pushed into the room. Her eyes widened slightly with shock as she spotted a familiar figure -Luna. The mercenary gave her a half-hearted wave, somehow seeming extremely relaxed while sitting on the floor in the corner. A brown haired man was busy at her side, wrapping the girl's hand up. His clothes immediately informed Belka that he was a Hoshidan, no doubt their guard. She sat down in the other corner of the room, regarding the two with careful eyes.

"I'm...really sorry, please just bear it for a little while." Aoi spoke up again, hand faltering on the door knob for a second as she turned around for the last time, "Oh, Hinata, that's Camilla's other retainer, Belka. Belka, this is Hinata, my younger brother's retainer. Er, the archer who...you know, you met earlier." Belka turned away, not wanting to speak any more. She needed to find a way out and help Camilla.

 

***

 

"You cruel-hearted vulgar woman. You have no right to call yourself a maid -you are not worthy of serving Miss Aoi." Aqua stepped back as she gently let a hand fall onto the white-haired butler's shoulder.

"Joker, please. She already said that she was being forced to do this." She continued steadily, hoping that she wouldn't have to sing again to calm them down. Her condition was getting worse, but she couldn't let it overcome her before they defeated the evil -she had to see them all to the end.

"That's no excuse." Joker said loudly, blocking off a weak attack from Flora. Aqua had a feeling that she was trying her hardest not to harm him -why, she wouldn't know. She had seemed resolute enough as she had mercilessly struck at Tsubaki and Kazahana earlier. The two had since retreated to take care of soldiers to the side, unable to land a hit on the maid. "She will die at my hands today." Joker continued, procuring another kunai.

Aqua gripped her staff tighter, blocking an attack that shattered into a thousand ice shards as it was stopped midair. Perhaps if she had defeated Flora herself, the maid would be safe from Joker's wrath. The butler was too far gone at this point; he was on a rampage, striking down all that came close and attempted to interrupt him.

"Aqua!" The songstress whipped around in relief as she heard the familiar voice of their commander. Aoi ran up to her in dragon form, fully ready to fight. "Camilla, Flora." She said evenly, "All of your soldiers have been defeated. Luna and Belka have also been captured." Camilla stopped for a second as her tome dropped to the ground lifelessly, her face showing an expression of pain.

"Aoi, as much as I love you, I cannot return without news of your death. Otherwise...otherwise, King Garon would personally execute me himself." She said almost pleadingly, shutting her eyes. "Even if we can't win, I must fight until the very end."

"You're wrong!" Aoi said quickly, reverting back into her human form and sheathing her sword as she saw her older sister lose her will to continue, "We don't have to fight. Join us, to defeat the true evil. You can't really believe that what Nohr's doing is right. I know you, and I know how kind you are." Camilla looked contemplative before she slowly landed beside Flora, her wyvern bowing down to allow her to dismount. She gazed around at her soldiers, fallen and without energy or hope.

She slowly lowered her axe to the ground, walking swiftly up to Aoi and enveloping her in a large hug. "It's as I thought -you're still truly my kind, sweet younger sister." She said happily, squeezing her tighter. "It was never my wish to fight you in the first place -even that day when you first left us, when you chose to take your own path; I never saw you as a traitor." She said truthfully, stroking her hair. "It's just...Elise and Marx and Leon..." Camilla trailed off, looking a bit regretful, "I would feel terrible to leave without them."

"Don't worry." Aoi said confidently, glad that she at least had Camilla on their side now, "I plan to reason with them as well. None of them shall be harmed -you guys are all my family, after all." Camilla beamed at her, eagerly embracing her again. "How about you, Flora?" Aoi suddenly said, head barely poking out from above her older sister's arms, "Will you join us as well?"

The maid shook her head solemnly, a small smile present on her face, "As much as I'd love to, Miss Aoi, I must return to my tribe." She stated, glancing quickly at Joker. "I sincerely apologize for my actions -my mind was not clear, I too am worried about my own family." Joker scoffed at her words, turning away. Aoi frowned, wondering why he was acting so cold. It was true he wasn't one to be close to others, but he, Flora, and Felicia had known each other since they were young. Aoi probably wouldn't consider the two maids to be friends with him, but it was strange for him to act so outright rudely towards her.

"I understand Flora." Aoi said, pointedly looking at Joker, "Please don't worry, I don't blame you at all. And don't hesitate to ask if you need our assistance in anything."

Flora nodded gratefully, bowing deeply, "You are too kind, Miss Aoi. But I have already caused you enough trouble -it will be better if I take care of things myself. I am sure I will be able to do something." She stepped back, towards the hull of the ship and waved her right arm, cracks piercing the silence as though she were orchestrating a cacophonous symphony. "The ice had broken, you should be able to travel freely in the water again." She said, bowing again. "I will take my leave here then. Miss Camilla, you have my best wishes." She added, before turning away and hurrying out of sight, most likely from Joker who still glared at her menacingly over his back.

Aoi's shoulders drooped tiredly. She was glad they were able to make it out with little harm -and even happier that they had gotten Camilla to join forces with them. She was one step closer to reuniting her family. She gestured for her soldiers to follow her as she quickly boarded their ship again on unsteady feet. Introductions were in order, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might adjust the ages later, but FE and jpn games in general (that I have played at least) tend to use a younger age group so I went with that...also, can't remember where but I think it was mentioned Oboro was younger than Takumi at some point? And in Kamui x Suzukaze's supports, it is mentioned that the retainers in Hoshido are the ones who personally chose who to serve.
> 
> Also it's past 1 am and I'm really tired so mistakes haha


End file.
